Future Proofing

FUTURE PROOFING NEW DESIGNS

It is a well-known problem that TFT displays can have a limited production life and it is understandably a major cause for concern for anyone selecting a TFT panel.

Problems are often more acute with smaller displays, typically below 3.5”. This is because there are effectively two grades of TFT panel, consumer and industrial. Below 3.5” displays are aimed at the consumer market which of course itself has a short lifespan.

There are a limited number of foundries manufacturing TFT panels. Their capacity is huge but production is driven by the needs of high volume consumer products. Technology changes and requests for cost down mean production of older panels can stop with little or no notice.

All of the above impacts on the supply chain and potentially your product.

HELP WITH OBSOLETE PANELS

We have helped many customers who have found themselves in the unfortunate position where the panel they have been buying is no longer available. They have been told that there is either no replacement or the suggested replacement requires the customer to spend huge amounts of time and money to redesign their circuits and hardware.

RELEC can work with you to provide a drop in replacement. When provided with a specification of your obsolete panel we will endeavour to recreate every aspect including cable position, pin out, mechanical constraints, and perhaps even offer to upgrade your equipment by offering a brighter backlight for example.

In order to support you we have put the following processes in place:

1 – We have agreements in place with our suppliers to minimise the effects of component obsolescence. We will firstly give you 6 months’ notice of any planned changes. This initially gives us both time to arrange a last time buy and the holding of suitable buffer stocks.

2 – We will then source and replace the panel component with an alternative. Often this means other changes to the PCB, bezel and other components to accommodate the new panel. We then build a sample for you to test. It will be a form, fit and function identical part, meaning that you don’t need to make any changes to your design. The engineering work and sample is supplied free of charge. This stage is very important and one of the areas which set RELEC apart. We aim to support all of our customers this way rather than simply replacing a panel with an alternative which is not 100% compatible with the old.

3 – After approval we will start supplying the replacement panel. This should allow uninterrupted production of your product.